Pentagon sources say that US military leadership is considering developing custom malware specifically targeting ISIS as a way to block their online presence, which allows them to continuously recruit new members.
The Los Angeles Times reports that military hackers have already created several malware families for ISIS (United States Cyber Command or USCYBERCOM) at Fort Meade, Maryland.
However, according to LAT, although these viruses are ready, the Pentagon has not yet decided whether to actually use them, because it is facing growing opposition from the FBI and other intelligence agencies.
(We are surprised by this fact, of course, as secret services, in the name of terrorism, monitor entire countries to identify terrorists...)
The FBI and its experts claim that this particular method of sabotage will take ISIS members offline, and their agents will lose valuable information about ISIS's daily operations.
Exactly the same arguments were raised earlier, when Anonymous members began exposing ISIS members and websites, immediately after the November 13 terrorist attacks in Paris.
(The Anonymous example shows that while intelligence agencies seek to collect information, they want to do so in a way that will not be perceived by the adversary.)
The Pentagon is reportedly very skeptical about the possibility of viruses being released. The malware should not be distributed blindly across all Syrian connections, and the FBI suggests using it only in highly targeted cyberattacks that focus on individual individuals, thus producing more precise and efficient results.
